


Mistakes Made

by BettyHT



Series: Kate [7]
Category: Bonanza
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-20
Updated: 2018-10-20
Packaged: 2019-08-04 22:52:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16355798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BettyHT/pseuds/BettyHT
Summary: 7th story in the Kate series.  A tale of revenge that takes a toll on the family but shows the strength of character of the family members, old and new.





	Mistakes Made

Mistakes Made

Chapter 1

Two bodies, beaten beyond recognition, were lying in cells in the Nevada State Prison as evening roster was being checked. The men dressed as guards in that cell block didn't report that. Once the count was done verifying that all inmates were accounted for, the day guards walked out the gate at the end of the shift. Dinner had been served and inmates were locked down for the night. The guards on the wall waved, and the guards leaving waved back. Two of the men who had hung back walked on after the others went into their dwellings. Once they knew they were no longer under observation, they sprinted into the grove of trees where they met two other men holding horses.

"Hey, Frankie, that was slick. We'll be gone at least twelve hours maybe longer before they know we left. It'll take them that long to realize those bodies are two dead guards instead of us."

"That's what my pa always said. A great plan is always the best way to go. Now we can take care of the men who killed my pa. Those Cartwrights are never gonna know what hit em."

And Frankie Brent mounted up and rode away after serving only a short part of his term. He had plotted and prepared and now was ready to execute his plan of revenge against the Cartwrights for killing his father, Jason Brent. The four men rode down the road in the light of the full moon. One bound for revenge and the others motivated by greed.

A few days later in Virginia City, Roy Coffee was worried about the telegram he had received warning him that Frankie Brent might be headed his way. He hoped the young man was smarter than that and would try to blend in somewhere in the west and live a normal life. However, by his experience, men like that seldom did the smart thing. He decided that he ought to ride out to the Ponderosa to let them know and perhaps get a slice of pie from Hop Sing. Once he arrived, he found the Cartwrights were worried for Hoss had not returned from a routine trip to the high pastures to evaluate the quality of the feed before the herds were moved back up there. He had missed his rendezvous with Adam and Joe who had ridden back wondering if Hoss had returned without them only to find that no one had seen him. With Roy's news, they were much more concerned.

A disagreement between Adam and Candy developed over the best way to proceed. The two men stood toe to toe and argued.

"We ought to get some men together and ride fast to the high pastures to find Hoss. He might need our help right now." Candy was worried about Hoss' safety.

"If you do that, any trail Hoss left could be obliterated. Besides how could Frankie Brent have known that Hoss was in the high pastures? He's only been out of prison for a couple of days." Adam was sure that Hoss wasn't in danger from Frankie Brent but was concerned that he had some difficulty somewhere and tracking him would be the only way to find him quickly in that event.

Finally they agreed that Candy and Joe would ride to the highest pasture by the shortest route because it was unlikely that Hoss had gone up that way. Adam would take two men and track Hoss. Hopefully one party or the other would find him before anything bad happened.

"Well, miracles can still happen. I never saw Candy or Adam ever back down like that."

"Joe, they didn't back down. They settled it like men who disagree. There were no insults thrown and nobody was yelling. They talked it out and reached a compromise that makes sense to both of them. Probably something I should remember with Adam. I always seem to lose my temper with him, and you know how he is when he gets hot."

"Pa, I know how you get when you get hot. I think he stokes that fire a bit just to get you so mad he might have a better chance of winning."

"Oh, and how did you draw that little conclusion?"

"Well, see, you're already a little upset with me. Anyway, remember when the two of you were having that row about the windmills and, it sounded like Adam was really mad?"

"Yes, I remember that very well, and he was mad."

"Pa, he walked out of that house when you said he could go with the biggest darn grin you ever saw and calm as could be."

Ben thought it over and remembered other disagreements they had had. "That scoundrel. He's been acting all the time?"

"Well, not all the time. But sometimes, yeah, I think he is."

After Joe went to get some supplies, Ben knew that he and Roy would have to let Melody and Kate know what was happening. Within days, Adam had expected to move into his new house with Kate. Now that didn't seem like a good idea at all. It was only three miles away but having a pregnant woman there alone didn't seem reasonable any longer. Ben tried to be as calm as possible as he told his daughters-in-law what had happened. Melody burst into tears and Kate was by her side in a moment. Ben sat on the other side of her and explained what would be done to find Hoss and make sure he was safe. Ben reached out his arms and held Melody in a hug to soothe her while Kate went in search of Adam.

Once the men had packed supplies, they were ready to leave but four of them waited while Adam said goodbye to Kate. Ever since Kate had learned she was pregnant, she had become increasingly emotional which she found preferable to the idea of morning sickness. However in situations like this when she wanted to appear strong, it was extremely difficult not to cry. Adam held her in his arms until he felt her relax. Then he bent down and kissed her thoroughly.

"Joe, do you ever get a little envious of that?"

"Candy, I never thought I would be jealous of a married man, but I am sometimes. I always thought how terrible it would be to be tied down to the same woman. Now I wonder how it would be to have a hug or a kiss whenever you want it. Or how nice it would be to wake up in the morning with a soft warm body pressed up against me."

"Yeah, and the more obvious benefits." That comment by Candy got the other three men to snicker, but inside Candy was feeling the same things that Joe had mentioned. He wondered if he ought to think about heading out from the Ponderosa to see if he could find someone like Ann.

As Adam joined the men and saw their looks, he had a fairly good idea of what the conversation had been. It didn't matter though. He would give Kate the attention she needed whenever she needed it, except of course, if he had to ride out to find his brother and make sure he was safe. So he wheeled his horse and followed the others as they headed toward the high pastures.

As Kate stood with her hand still raised in farewell to Adam, Ben walked up and put his arm around her. He had calmed Melody but knew that both ladies were going to be on edge until their husbands returned. Turning Kate gently, he walked her back into the house where Roy was talking with Melody hopefully trying to put her mind at ease as well. In his mind, Ben was thinking of precautions he ought to take to make sure he kept the two women safe. There was no way to tell how far Frankie Brent might take things if he was in fact headed their way and looking for revenge. What Ben didn't know was how to evaluate how clever Frankie was. His father, Jason Brent, had pulled all the strings in their criminal organization, and Frankie had enjoyed the ladies, the liquor, and the cards. What he would do now was only a guess.

Chapter 2

Just before Roy left later that day, he and Ben talked about the danger of Frankie Brent.

"He's a wild one. No telling what he would do. His father was greedy and would do anything for money or to protect his son. This young one, though, I think he does whatever he wants and don't need to make money or protect family to do it. He hurt some of them saloon gals but his father paid them not to file charges and paid Paul to treat them."

"If you knew he did that, why didn't you arrest him?" Ben was incensed that a man could hurt a woman and get away with it.

"Now, without a complaining witness and just rumors for evidence, what good would that a done? No, I just said that to ya because I want you to know he would hurt these women here without a second thought. You need to make sure ta keep em safe."

"You know I will, Roy, you know I will. Those two ladies are my daughters now and they're carrying my grandchildren. I'll do everything I can to protect them."

As Roy left, Ben asked if he could let Will know what was happening. It had been Candy and Will who had fired the fatal shots at Jason Brent so they both needed to watch for Frankie Brent as much as Ben and his sons did. Then Ben went to the bunkhouse to talk to the men. He had one of them move to the hayloft promising extra compensation for staying up there to keep watch. He had another two men agree to move into the guest bedroom upstairs. They would get no extra compensation but would get to dine with the family and enjoy the comforts of the ranch house until his sons returned home.

Miles away, the two groups of men had split. Adam was looking for Hoss' trail intending to follow his path and find him. Hoss was the best tracker in the family because he had almost a sixth sense about it. Adam was quite good however because he was very observant and could read sign as well as any Paiute for they had taught him well. After just a few hours, he had found Hoss' trail and moved out leading two men who watched his back as he sought his brother.

Meanwhile, Joe and Candy were watching each other's backs which was fortuitous because as soon as Candy saw the flash of metal in the trees, he yelled to Joe who dropped low on Cochise as bullets whined over his head. They were in some heavy brush and trees, so finding cover was not difficult.

"Who the heck was that?"

"I don't know, Joe. I was just lucky and saw the sunlight glint off the metal and yelled to you. I never saw anything else."

"Let's get these horses behind the boulders. Then you work your way around to the side of whoever it is, and I'll keep some firing going on here."

As they tied the horses, they grabbed their rifles. Joe made his way to a higher spot and fired a few shots down into the woods where the shots at him had originated. Candy took that as his signal to start moving downhill toward that same spot. As Candy drew closer to the woods, he could hear what sounded like drunken cursing. He got into an opening where Joe could see him but the unknown man in the woods could not and waved at Joe to work his way down. Once Joe arrived, the two of them stealthily approached the location with the curses and surprised a man who was still looking up the hill where they had been. He got quite a surprise when he heard an order to drop his rifle and looked back to see two armed men standing behind him. He dropped the rifle.

"Now, lookee here, gents, I jes shotted at tha biggest damn elk you ever shaw in yer lifes an it dropped too. Then some crazy yahoos starts ta shooting at me. So far they mished me but ya never know when dey coulds get lucky. So youse two can huncher down hear now wit me and we'll all stake care a tings."

"You're drunk!" Joe said it but Candy could hear and smell it on the filthy man too. "That was no elk, you idiot. That was me, and you could have killed me."

Taking a rope that the man had lying on the ground, Candy stepped behind him and made a loop that he dropped over the man securing his arms to his sides. Then despite the man's protests, he wound it around him a few more times before knotting it securely behind his back. Joe had a few questions.

"Do you always get drunk when you go hunting?"

"Nah, I didn't thish time neither."

"But you're drunk and you're hunting."

"Yash, but, you see, I was drunk first and then deshided to go hunting. The mishus kicked me outta the house. So I grabbed my jug and came out her to gets drunk and I did. But then I got hungry and I saws this damn giant elk just a walking through the brush. Say did you see him up there. I'm shur hungry."

If the man hadn't almost shot Joe, Candy would have been in hysterics by now. All he could do was try to remember everything the man said because this was going to make a heck of a story to tell. He watched Joe's face too. He needed to be able to describe Joe's reaction to this ridiculous situation.

"You got a horse?"

"Nope, no hoss."

"Well how did you get up here?"

"I lives up here. Well aways away from here, I guesh. I got here on Betshy."

"Where's Betsy now?"

"Right down theres in tha meadow eating grash."

Pushing the man in front of them, Joe and Candy got him down to his mule and put him in the saddle. They stuck his rifle in the scabbard but didn't untie the man. In fact Candy used more rope to secure him to the saddle.

"Hey, hows I shupposhed to get home without my armsh?"

Candy answered by slapping the mule on the butt, and it took off at a good pace heading uphill and undoubtedly for home. Candy was chuckling.

"We're so all fired worried about Frankie Brent, and you almost get shot by a drunk in the woods."

"Yeah, well Candy, keep your eyes open. I have a feeling if Brent comes for us it won't be as obvious as that drunk was." It was a sobering thought.

Not more than a mile away, Hoss had heard the shots. There were two shots, and two more later. He guessed they were hunters. What he was hoping to hear was the three shots that indicated that someone in his family was near. How he would love to hear someone call out his name right about then.

Chubb had slipped in some loose rocks throwing Hoss who had injured his ankle. But more importantly, Chubb had gone down and scraped both of his front legs. Hoss had done the best he could. He stopped the bleeding and used his shirt to bind up the wounds, but Chubb needed more care than that. Hoss couldn't walk far, and Chubb couldn't carry him, so the two of them had camped in this spot for days.

Knowing it would take at least several days for him to be missed, Hoss did expect help to come soon now. He was almost out of grub too and couldn't hunt well in his condition. He wished he had paid more attention to how Adam made those snares of his. So he sat and waited as Joe and Candy made their way up higher and higher on the Ponderosa pulling further and further away from Hoss who needed their help so much. As Hoss waited, he hoped that Melody wasn't too upset. He didn't want to have anything that would cause a problem with the pregnancy for he was so looking forward to being a father.

Chapter 3

Dreaming about ham, Hoss was salivating in his sleep. He awoke and swore he could still smell ham. In fact the smell was so strong, it was like it was right next to him. Hoss turned his head then to see a ham sandwich held in those long fingers that could only belong to one man. He grabbed the sandwich out of Adam's hand and took a huge bite. The bite he took was so huge, he couldn't talk for almost a minute. Then he asked just one question before he took another bite.

"What took you so long?"

"Well you could say thank you. I don't see anyone else here to rescue you, especially anyone carrying ham sandwiches Hop Sing made just for you."

"Thanks. Where's Joe?"

"He and Candy were sure you were higher up. I didn't think you were so I trailed you." Adam pulled his pistol and fired three shots. They heard an answering three shots from quite a ways off.

"Why'd you figure I wasn't up higher?"

"If you were and still alive, you would have lit a big smoky fire to lead us right to you. Down here in the trees, wouldn't do much good. We wouldn't likely have seen it anyway. What happened to Chubb?"

"Aw, musta been some hunters. We were riding over some loose shale when there was a shot. Chubb just took one step sideways but that was all it took. He went down and I went flying."

After grabbing his saddlebags, Adam went to take a look at Chubb. He unwrapped the makeshift bandages and evaluated the wounds. He asked Hoss to come help, and they cleaned the wounds and dressed them in clean bandages.

"Don't worry about him, Hoss. Once we get him back to the ranch and taken care of properly, he'll be fine. Tomorrow, why don't you ride one of the horses, and the two hands can double up. I'll lead Chubb."

"I can lead him."

"You take it easy."

The four of them camped that night eating the food Hop Sing had sent along. The next morning, the small caravan moved slowly down the mountain. Eventually Joe and Candy caught up to them.

"Damn, Adam, don't you get tired of being right all the time?" Candy was a little perturbed.

With a smirk, Adam simply shook his head no as Hoss and Joe laughed. This was one of those times they were happy he had been correct in his assumptions. How he did it, they had no idea. It was like he could get in someone's mind and think like them. Joe had surmised to Hoss once that was the reason Adam drank so little and so seldom. He didn't want to lose that edge. It made sense to Hoss who from that point on always tried to get Adam to take just one more drink. He thought it would be highly entertaining to see his serious, sober, intelligent brother reduced to acting like an idiot, but somehow he had not been able to get it to happen.

At home that night as Hoss sat on the settee with his foot resting on a pillow on the table in front of the fireplace and his arm around Melody, Candy started telling his stories. Soon everyone was laughing. Kate sat on the blue chair with Adam sitting on the hearth next to her and holding her hand. When she complained of a backache, Adam suggested they could go to bed and get some rest. Once they reached the top of the stairs, there was laughter down below.

"You never fool them, you know."

"I know, but it stops them from saying anything else. I missed you and wanted to be with you."

"Adam, you were only gone one night. Of course, it was a very long night, and I'm so glad you're back now. I really could use a back massage." With a coy grin as she removed her dress, Kate had to add more. "And we could see where we go from there."

"Oh, I know where I'm going, and I'm taking you along for the ride." The couple kissed and then Kate laid down for her back massage which of course developed into something more. They both slept well that night.

A week later, Joe and Hoss rode into town to get more salve for Chubb who was healing nicely. A week earlier and Ben would have insisted that Candy ride with them and that Adam stay with Ben in the house to make sure the ladies were protected. But with nothing happening and no sighting of Frankie Brent, the whole family was starting to relax. Joe and Hoss came home with news from one of their bankers.

"Well, Jarrod thinks it's a good investment. He invested already. If we wait too long, the opportunity will be lost." Joe was frustrated. He had been so happy to bring his father this news and now Adam was dousing the flame.

"An opportunity can be good or bad. How long did Jarrod study mining before he sat behind that bank desk?" Adam was frustrated as well but for entirely different reasons. He knew Joe was anxious to show that he could make good investments too, but Adam thought he would be better off if he stuck to investing in what he understood. Unfortunately his father's ego was also on the line.

"You're not the only one who knows about investing. I made many investments when you were just a boy and more when you were gone to college."

"Yes, you invested in cattle, timber, and land. You knew all you needed to know about those things. And Joe knows everything there is to know about horses. But this is a mine."

They grudgingly reached a compromise that Adam would go check the mine and if the vein of silver and the silver ore looked as good as advertised, they would invest. He planned to ride out the next morning.

At that mine the next morning, Frankie Brent was consulting with the five men who were doing his bidding. They had salted this mine well and the investors had lined up to pay their money. Next they would get a large ransom from the Cartwrights if everything worked as they planned.

"Did it work?"

"Like a charm. That oldest Cartwright son is riding to this mine right now."

"Is he alone?"

"Yep, you were right. They already let their guard down."

"You did a great job as that drunken hunter. Little episode like that shook them up. I bet they laughed a lot after they ran you off. So with that, and what you did to the big one, and a few weeks time, I would guess they're relaxing thinking they got nothing to worry about from me. I bet that Cartwright is riding over to the mine all by his lonesome cause he thinks he can handle anything coming his way." Frankie was proud of himself for working out a scheme instead of reacting emotionally. There was nothing like prison to settle a man down, but he had no intention of going back to one, so now he planned and prepared. Two men had started his plan in motion before he and his cellmate killed those two guards and took their place so they could escape. He had a new appreciation for what his father had done. Once he pulled off this caper, he would contact some of the men his father had worked with and re-establish his father's business, but now it would be his.

"Boss, you sure planned this one well. They got no idea what's going on."

"All right, let's make sure the boys do a good job of tying him up."

As Adam approached the mine according to the directions Joe had given him, he saw what he would expect to see at a new strike. There were several tents, some tables, various mining tools, and several horses tied to a line between two trees. He rode in not expecting any trouble and found himself facing three pistols aimed at his middle as he dismounted and turned around.

Chapter 4

Disarmed, Adam was forced at gunpoint to mount up again, but the reins of his horse were held by another man. Frankie Brent came out of one of the tents laughing. Adam stared at him. There was nothing he could do at this point anyway.

"You're going to help make us rich, Cartwright, and then you're going to die. Think about that for the next week."

Three of the men mounted up with Frankie while two set about dismantling the camp and packing everything in a wagon. There would be no evidence there had ever been an operation here by the time anyone came to look. The wagon would be driven onto the property of another mine and abandoned. No one would ever connect this to Frankie Brent. It would appear that everyone involved in this operation had vanished including the would be mine inspector, Adam Cartwright. The five men headed down the road. They would veer off several times leaving false trails before they returned to the road that would take them to an isolated cabin purchased by one of Brent's allies well before he escaped from prison. Again no one would think to look there because there was no connection to Brent.

Once they arrived at the cabin, Adam was forced into the cabin and tied up before being shoved in a corner. The plan was to give him just water and keep him alive long enough to get a ransom. Then the other men planned to leave, and Frankie would do whatever he wanted with their hostage.

When Adam did not return for dinner, Joe, Hoss, and Candy immediately rode to the location of the mine that he had been going to check out. When they arrived, there was no one and nothing there. None of the three could make sense out of what they were seeing so they headed to town and banged on Jarrod Parker's door. There was no answer. They pounded louder getting some attention from the neighbors who said they had not seen him all day. Hoss went to see Roy as Joe and Candy went to the bank president's house. He reported that Jarrod had not been to work that day and had seemed sweaty and uncomfortable the day before. He had assumed the man stayed home because of illness. As Joe and Candy walked back to Jarrod's house determined to wake him up, they saw Hoss and Roy step outside Jarrod's front door.

"You boys don't wanna go in there. It's a mess. That boy was beaten to death. There's blood everywhere. Whoever did this is a savage man."

"Just one person did it." From what they were describing, Joe and Candy thought it would be more than one perpetrator so Candy had asked the question.

"Only one set of footprints in the blood." Hoss was looking pale. What he had seen had unnerved him and now he feared for his older brother. Hoss looked at Joe and saw realization dawn on him too. The mine investment that Jarrod had endorsed had gotten Adam to go to the mine that was not a mine and now Adam was missing and Jarrod was dead. They knew it was connected. Now they would have to go home and tell their father and Kate.

"You think it's Frankie Brent?" Joe voiced what they were all thinking.

"Who else? He's a mean, vicious man. He murdered two guards so he could walk out of that prison. But he didn't just kill them. He beat them until they were almost unrecognizable and then mutilated them on top of all of that."

Hoss was upset. "Roy, why didn't you tell us all of that before?"

"Well, I told your Pa some, and well, you was all taking precautions. I didn't think that all the awful details were really necessary. When nothing happened, I just thought Frankie had headed off to greener pastures. But this does seem like the kind a thing he would do. As soon as it's light again, we'll look for tracks, but in the city like this, I don't expect we'll find anything."

Hoss added more information. "Someone brushed out all the tracks at the mine. There's nothing there until you get to the road, and then there's so many tracks, there's no way of knowing which way to even look."

Joe started to get very upset. "You're not just going to give up, are you? That's our brother out there and who knows what's happened to him. We have to look for him."

Candy tried to soften the impact of Hoss' and Roy's statements. "We'll look, Joe, but Hoss and Roy are just telling us that it's gonna be really tough."

"No, what's really going to be tough is telling Kate and Pa what happened. We let Adam down."

As expected, Kate was distraught. Ben tried to be strong for her, but tears rolled down his cheeks as he held his daughter-in-law as she sobbed. Melody was nearly in tears herself. Hoss, Candy, and Joe had already re-established watchmen but felt it was too late to do any good. If Brent was going to storm the Ponderosa, he would have done it when their guard was down. Instead, they would have to do what they could, and then hope this was a kidnapping. They began to discuss how much money they could get together in a short time. It was about all they could do before they retired to their bedrooms and tried to sleep.

There was no ransom demand and they found no clues and no trail. For days they waited and suffered. Ben began not only to fear for Kate and Adam's baby but for Kate herself. She had dark circles under her eyes showing her utter exhaustion. She ate little, and when pushed to eat more, said it made her nauseous to eat more. Hop Sing began plying her with small snacks throughout the day but with little success. If Frankie Brent wanted to torture them, he was successful. On the fifth day since Adam's disappearance, Roy rode into the yard of the Ponderosa to deliver a package.

"This parcel was left outside my office some time last night. We just found it this morning. It says to be opened by Ben Cartwright."

Immediately taking the package from Roy, Ben untied the string holding the box closed and opened it to find Adam's pistol, holster, and watch. There was a note with a map.

Bring $50,000 to the location marked on the map. You make the deposit. Anyone follows you or us and the next delivery will be your son's head.

Ben had that much money already collected and could have matched an even higher demand if necessary. There had been a lot of arguing among the kidnappers over the demand. Frankie had actually wanted a number so high they couldn't match it but never told his allies that. Instead he had been forced to make a high but reasonable demand to satisfy the greed of his partners. He might have to be satisfied with killing just one or two Cartwrights this time. He was young though and assumed he would have other opportunities. His partners had no idea that he was out to murder Cartwrights. They knew he wanted revenge but thought hurting the man they held would be enough for him. They also didn't know what he had done to Jarrod Parker. That had been a great risk for Frankie, but he had enjoyed the excitement of going to the town where so many knew him and getting away with murder, literally.

That night as two of the kidnappers took Adam outside to relieve himself, he knocked one of the men down and grabbed the pistol out of the hand of the other man shoving him back then. He ran into the woods and tried to get as far away as possible. Unfortunately for Adam, he didn't know that there was another man waiting outside just in case something like this happened. He yelled to the others in the cabin and ran immediately after Adam who was weak with lack of food. They caught him before he could get out of sight and disarmed him forcing him to walk with his hands on his head back to the cabin. Once back at the cabin, Frankie gave orders to the three men who threw Adam to the floor.

"Hold him down. Now roll him on his stomach and pull off his boots."

Frankie walked to the fireplace and stoked the fire with more wood and then inserted the poker into the hottest part of the fire for a few minutes until it was almost glowing.

"Hold him tight now. Don't let him move."

Frankie laid the hot end of the poker across the sole of one of Adam's bare feet. Adam screamed with the sudden intense pain and even with three men holding him down nearly managed to throw them off. One kneed him in the side and the three got control of him again just as Frankie had the reheated poker and laid it across the other bare foot.

"He won't run away now."

Adam gritted his teeth against the intense pain of being burned and the throbbing severe pain that followed. It robbed him of conscious thought. All that his mind could process was the horrible pain from his burned soles. Frankie directed the men to wrap a rope around him tying his arms to his sides and to leave him lying face down on the floor. He was not able to sleep at all. In the early morning hours, one of the men walked over to him and kicked him in the side snarling at him to stop groaning so they could sleep. Frankie told one of the men to light a lantern. He dug a bottle of laudanum out of his saddlebags. He had intended to use it on the Cartwright wives if they had taken one or both of them to make them compliant with his wishes. Instead he gave some of it to Adam to shut him up. There was some relief from the pain and Adam drifted off into an exhausted drugged sleep.

Chapter 5

In the morning, Frankie and his men found Adam was very compliant under the influence of the drug. Frankie had them drag Adam into a corner and untie him. He poured the rest of the laudanum into a large canteen of water and brought it to Adam.

"Here's some water. It's all you get, so don't drink it all at once."

They weren't giving Adam any food to make him weaker, so even in his slightly drugged state, he had no doubt this was all the water he was going to get. He sipped water only when his thirst was unbearable. The water was bitter and smelled but in Adam's drugged state, he didn't realize why that was so. Frequently he dropped off to sleep only to awaken with the pain from his feet. He was unknowingly treating himself for the pain but addicting himself to laudanum at the same time.

Out on the ridge above the meadow where Ben was going to make the drop of the ransom later, Candy was slipping through the brush trying to find a hiding spot where he could observe and see which way the men who picked up the money went. Unfortunately, Frankie had anticipated that possibility and had men watching for just such a try. Candy was under surveillance most of the time he was there. When Candy slipped behind some boulders to watch, Frankie's men were able to move to either side of him and behind. They surprised him, disarmed him, and hit him. Thinking they had another Cartwright, they brought him back to the cabin. Frankie had been sure that one or both of Adam's brothers would try to come to his rescue so had basically set a trap for them but caught Candy instead. When Frankie heard horses outside the cabin, he rushed outside. He saw a man in a red shirt and black vest bleeding from several abrasions and bruised.

"You're not a Cartwright! Who are you?"

"The names Canady. I work for the Cartwrights."

"So they sent you out here to take the risks. The cowards! And you idiots! I set up several occasions for you to see the Cartwrights. You were supposed to learn what they looked like so I could avoid this situation. Put him inside and tie him up while I think."

"Adam, Adam, wake up." Candy repeatedly hissed at Adam but got no response. Adam sat in the corner with a blanket over his legs leaning against the wall and sleeping. He was not tied nor restrained in any way, but he did smell bad. While Candy was there, no one seemed to pay much attention to Adam, and Candy had hoped he would untie him but was unable to even wake him. Finally after about two hours, Adam awoke and looked at Candy.

"What are you doing here?" Adam's words were slurred but clear enough.

"Can you untie these ropes before they come back inside?"

Candy turned his back on Adam so that he could get his wrists untied. Adam fumbled with the ropes and eventually got them loose enough that Candy could wriggle his hands free. It was too late though as Frankie and the others walked back inside. Candy received a second beating. Candy wondered at Adam sitting in the corner looking concerned but not helping him. Then Frankie had them drag Candy outside. Inside, Frankie kicked Adam's foot causing him to cry out from the pain that penetrated his laudanum tranquilized state. Candy heard the yell but didn't know the reason.

"You kill him, and those Cartwrights will hunt you down."

"All right, all right, don't worry about your boss. I won't kill him yet. But you tell old man Cartwright that he owes us $100,000 now or his son dies today. I want that money by 5 or he's dead." After instructing Candy, Frankie turned to his men. He was not as angry any more because he saw an opportunity now where earlier he had just been angry that his plan had not worked as well as he had hoped. He gave instructions to his men and a final word to Candy. "Now take him back to that meadow and release him. Ride fast, Canady, unless you want one less boss on that ranch."

At the ranch house, Ben was packing the valise with the money on Buck. He planned to ride to the meadow, drop the money, and then ride part of the way back and wait for Candy to tell them which way the kidnappers had gone. He was sick to his stomach with worry. Kate was not doing well, and Doctor Martin had come out to check her over. He told them that the stress might contribute to another miscarriage. Ben knew how devastating that would be to Adam and Kate, but he had to get his son back first. They had already made so many mistakes. He prayed that there would be no more, and that he would have his son back soon. Hoss and Joe came out to wish him well. Afraid that they might be watched, they would not ride out to protect their father. Candy had left at the first light of dawn, and they were counting on him.

"Pa don't take no extra chances now. We don't want to give them another hostage."

Less than halfway to the drop point, Ben was intercepted by Candy.

"Candy, what happened to you?"

"Frankie is smarter than we thought. His men were ready for me. I saw Adam, and he's alive. But Frankie said to double the ransom by five, or he'll kill him."

Ben could feel his heart start pounding harder in his chest. They could do almost eighty thousand but there was no way to get the rest by five. He began to suspect that Frankie wanted to kill Adam, and that was more important to him than the ransom. Ben and Candy rode fast back to the Ponderosa to see what they could do. A rider who had been shadowing Candy rode back to tell Frankie that to that point, everything seemed to be working.

At the Ponderosa, there was frustration and fear.

"What if we don't get the money to them? What will they do to Adam?"

Kate had to be taken to a bedroom and comforted by Melody. All she could think of now was Adam and what could happen to him. Hop Sing brought some tea for the ladies to help soothe them. Joe had perhaps the best idea of all.

"Lets wrap the money in different sized bundles. They would have to take each one apart and count it to know how much is in there. I bet these men have never seen ten thousand dollars much less one hundred thousand. Eighty thousand should look like the right amount. If they hang around to count it, it gives us more time to get to them anyway."

"Mr. Cartwright, Joe's probably right. Those men seemed to be greedy rather than vicious other than that Frankie. If we can get them focused on the money, that might be our best bet."

"Pa, I agree with Joe and Candy. There's no way we can ask for more time, and we can't just not deliver money or they'll kill Adam outright. We gotta make them think they got the ransom. Then we better move fast before they can do anything to Adam."

As they were discussing how to proceed, there was the sound of a big wagon pulling into the yard. Price Freight had the items Adam had ordered for his new house. Big John was driving and Melanie was beside him. Big John expected a warmer welcome from Joe and had to ask what was wrong. Joe gave him the short version. Candy stood staring at the wagons and then turned to the Cartwrights.

"That freight road to Placerville goes near the meadow where you have to drop the money. If we stowed away in the wagon with some saddles, we could be ready to help in minutes if need be. Big John, you sometimes deliver horses, don't you?"

"Oh, yeah, we can take up to three or four. We tie em in a line behind the wagon."

Suddenly everyone understood what Candy was proposing including Big John.

"Now, I owe Joe, and I'll help, but only if Melanie gets to stay here. I ain't gonna put her in harm's way especially now."

Joe had to ask and found that Melanie was pregnant too. They sent her into the house to stay with the other ladies, and Ben again asked some men to take up positions to protect them. Big John backed the wagon near the stable to offload the crates. Then he packed up saddles and gear and threw a canvas tarp back over the wagon. With a number of men from the bunkhouse milling around, anyone watching would have had a hard time realizing that suddenly there were three less men as Hoss, Joe, and Candy slid under the canvas before it was tied down. The men took three horses from the corral and put lead ropes on them. They were secured to the back of the wagon and Big John waved goodbye and headed off to take the road to Placerville. Ben mounted up on Buck and began the trek to the meadow to drop the money.

Chapter 6

As Ben reached the center of the meadow and dropped the money satchel, shots rang out from the ridge above him. He turned Buck, and riding as low on his back as he could, he raced back to the cover of the trees he had recently left. Whoever was shooting at him wasn't very accurate, and Ben made it back to the trees and into cover. Tying Buck off in a safe spot, Ben grabbed his rifle and worked his way forward until he could see the opposite side of the meadow. What he saw unnerved him. The money satchel was gone, and there was no one in sight. He couldn't pursue the shooter or the man who had taken the money.

On the opposite ridgeline, Frankie was angry. He had missed. Telling his men that he was only going to drive Ben Cartwright back into the trees so they could safely retrieve the money, what he actually had meant to do was to kill the man who had led the assault on his father. He wished he had spent more time practicing with firearms, but he and his father had relied on others to do their dirty work and had seldom practiced. Ben Cartwright was still alive because of that. Turning to leave, he began to think of how he could still kill more than one Cartwright. He would take their money for now, and then he could work out another plan. Satisfied with that for the moment, he noticed a freight wagon moving up the road but dismissed it as unimportant. His men had said no one left the Ponderosa following Ben so he was assured that he had gotten away with this completely. He planned to go take care of Adam Cartwright though before doing anything else.

Big John had heard the gunfire and assumed correctly that Ben was under attack. He pushed his team as hard as he could and pulled off the road as soon as he had some cover. Jumping down, he quickly untied the ropes securing the canvas and Hoss, Candy, and Joe climbed out of the wagon carrying their saddles and gear. Within minutes, they had saddled up, thanked Big John, and raced toward the meadow. The lone rear guard that Frankie had left mounted up when he saw the three men riding in. He needed to report this as soon as possible.

At the hideout cabin, Frankie had ordered his men to drag Adam from the cabin. He intended to kill Adam, but he wanted his father to find the body so they had to take him some other place to do that. Adam was in a drug-induced stupor and hardly knew what was happening. Frankie had them hoist him onto a horse, and tie the laudanum-laced canteen onto the pommel of the saddle. All of them had their gear already packed on their horses. About then the man he had left behind to watch for pursuit showed up and surprised them all. Frankie didn't know which man deserved his anger more: the one who had reported that no one left the Ponderosa or the rear guard who had run back here directly instead of confronting the pursuers. The man wearing Adam's boots suddenly gave Frankie an idea. He pulled his pistol and shot the man in the stomach. At close range, anyone could hit the target.

"Boss, what'd you do that for?"

"He didn't do his job and put all of us in jeopardy. Now drag his sorry body back into that cabin and set it on fire. Leave his feet out the door."

Two men grabbed the dead man and dragged him to the door leaving his feet encased in Adam's boots lying across the threshold. They went inside and started several small fires before retreating from the flames. The old cabin started to burn rapidly and smoke rose as a geyser into the air. Then the men mounted up and rode off with the money and Adam who would live a bit longer now because Frankie knew they might need a hostage at this point. He was trying to plan for all contingencies.

In the meadow, Ben emerged from the trees when he saw his sons and Candy ride up. They headed to the opposite side of the meadow looking for a trail when Candy spotted the smoke starting to rise. They rode rapidly up the ridge and beyond heading to the nearby fire assuming it was related to their quest. Once there, Ben dismounted and ran toward the burning cabin when he saw the boots in the doorway. The cabin collapsed as he ran, and he dropped to his knees in shock. He wanted to go closer and try to rescue his son, but the flames were too hot. He backed away from the intense heat but his eyes were focused on the spot where he had seen the soles of those familiar boots. As they watched the fire consume the cabin and the body inside, Ben said they should go home to tell Kate what happened and get more men to pursue Frankie and his gang. Joe disagreed.

"I don't think that's Adam in there. I know we didn't see much, but it didn't look like Adam to me."

"Joe, Kate has the right to know what happened." Ben was so worried about what telling her would do it had actually taken his mind from his grief for a bit.

"Kate has the right to know the truth, and we're not absolutely sure we know that, are we?" Joe was vehement in defense of his belief that they had to follow the trail to save his brother.

"Pa, I'm kinda leaning toward what Joe is saying. Somehow, it just doesn't seem like that could be Adam. Pa, I gotta believe he's still alive, and if he is, Joe's idea is the only way to keep him that way."

"Well, then, who could that body be in there? Those boots were Adam's!" Ben was starting to listen intently.

"It could be one of those men in there, and they burned the cabin to try to put us off the trail." Candy was backing Joe. It just made more sense to him considering what they knew.

"Frankie would kill one of his own men to trick us into thinking it was Adam?" Even as he said it, Ben knew it was possible. He walked to Buck and mounted up. The men who left had done nothing to obliterate their trail this time. They would follow them and rescue his son if he was still alive. If he wasn't, they would make sure justice was served. Frankie had thought that the thought of Adam's death would paralyze his father for a time, and it had to some degree but his other sons were more intent on following Frankie and that made all the difference.

The battle came quickly. Frankie and his men heard the pursuit and stopped in a clearing. Leaving Adam on his horse in the middle of the clearing, they moved to cover and waited for the pursuers. As Ben and the others neared the clearing and saw Adam, they couldn't help but let some small smiles appear but those were quickly gone as they knew they needed to win the upcoming battle first. No one could understand why Adam stayed on his horse in such obvious danger nor why he didn't try to ride away. Shots rang out and they returned fire. Soon it was fiery fight.

As Ben saw Adam sitting on that horse not moving as shots were fired all around him, his heart beat rapidly. Two of Frankie's men were hit and dropped almost immediately. They weren't used to facing men as accurate with rifles and pistols as the Cartwrights and Candy. When one more was wounded, the other retreated to his horse intending to ride out until Frankie shot him in the back. Frankie was enraged. He stood and aimed at Adam and fired but missed. Damning himself for his lack of skill with a pistol, Frankie stood and walked toward Adam raising his pistol to fire the fatal shots. It never happened. Frankie's chest exploded in a cloud of red as four bullets hit him almost simultaneously.

Ben ran to Adam then. He called his name, and Adam slowly turned to look at him.

"Hi, Pa."

Noticing Adam's feet for the first time, Ben was horrified. He gingerly picked one up by grasping Adam's ankle and saw the long blister and the inflamed flesh all around it. Adam hardly flinched with what should have been severe pain.

"Help me get him down from there."

Hoss stepped forward and helped pull Adam from the horse and then carried him to a soft spot in the grass. Adam was filthy and his feet made all of them cringe, but it was his demeanor that was so frightening.

"Pa, can I have some water? I'm so thirsty."

"Get that canteen from the horse." Ben directed his statement at all of them but Hoss was the first to react. He handed the canteen to his father who opened it and was about to give it to Adam when Candy stopped him.

"Don't. When I was in the cabin with him, he looked like he was drunk. He only had that canteen with him, and he sipped from it. He didn't do much of anything else. There might be something in that canteen he shouldn't have. Maybe they wanted him drunk."

Pulling the canteen to his nose, Ben sniffed and immediately suspected what was in the water. He poured some into his cupped hand and verified his theory.

"It's laudanum. They've been giving him laudanum."

As they had talked, Adam had fallen asleep. He hardly seemed to be breathing.

"We gotta try to get him awake. When I scouted for the Army, I saw a wounded soldier get too much laudanum. He just stopped breathing. We had to pound on him to get him to breathe and we couldn't let him sleep."

Candy's instructions probably saved Adam's life. They pulled him until he was sitting upright and Hoss thumped his chest and back until he was awake although still in a stupor. They would have to get him through this, and none of them realized at this point how hard that was going to be.

Chapter 7

There was little that Ben or anyone could do for Adam where they were. Hoss picked Adam up, and with Joe's help, settled him in the saddle of the horse he had been riding. Adam was agreeable to whatever they wanted to do. The bodies of the dead men were rolled in blankets and tied over their saddles. The wounded man got some basic care and had his hands tied to the pommel. Then they rode back to where Big John was waiting with the wagon and supplies. Hoss led Adam's horse because even with the laudanum, he couldn't put his feet in the stirrups. Once at the wagon, they organized. Adam was laid on a blanket, and Hoss and Ben started tending to his feet. They did their best to wash the wounds and bandage them.

"Joe and Candy, I would like you to take this man and the bodies to town. If Paul is in town, please send him back to the Ponderosa, and tell him what we're facing. Hoss, I'll ride in the wagon with Big John. Would you ride back to the house and get things ready?"

"Yeah, Pa. We gonna need a warm bath for him, ya think?"

"I'm afraid so. I don't know how we're going to clean those burns on his feet any other way. Hoss, prepare Kate. This is going to be hard to do, very hard."

As the wagon rolled slowly to the Ponderosa, it was clear that the analgesic effect of the laudanum was beginning to wear off. Ben held his son upright with his arms around his chest. He felt the groans as much as heard them as Adam suffered from pain in his feet.

Once back at the Ponderosa, Kate climbed into the wagon and hugged her husband. Adam was grimacing, but the pain wasn't overwhelming him yet.

"Love, we've got a bath ready for you. Paul is ready for us in the washroom."

Hoss and Ben carried Adam inside and set him on a bench that had been moved next to the tub. Kate and Ben began stripping off Adam's filthy clothing as Paul began examining his feet. Kate tried not to look, but when Adam flinched and groaned in pain, she looked down. The sight made her start to gag, and she had to leave. She came back after retching up her lunch. By then, Adam was naked and ready to be placed in the tub. Hop Sing came in with kettles of warm water and placed them next to stacks of clean towels.

"Ben and Hoss, I want each of you to hold an arm firmly. When he hits this water, the pain is going to be bad. I'll lift his legs with Hop Sing's help."

"Paul, what can I do?"

"Kate, you talk to him. Try to soothe him and keep his calm. It won't be easy."

The four men lifted Adam and placed him in the tub. Paul and Hop Sing held up his lower legs so that his feet entered last. As the water surrounded Adam's feet and the heat and soap penetrated the burns, he screamed and convulsed. It took all four men to hold him in the water as Paul and Kate washed him. Kate had tears running down her face and dripping into the water as she washed Adam's chest, face, and hair. Adam begged them to stop hurting him and continued to buck against the hands holding him until Paul told them to take him out. They laid him on the table that had been draped with blankets to cushion him and a sheet to wrap around him when Paul finished. Kate and Ben wrapped him in towels as Paul worked on his feet with Hop Sing's help covering the burns with salve and then lightly bandaging them.

After Adam was wrapped in a sheet, Hoss picked him up and carried him into the downstairs guest room and laid him on the bed. Adam hadn't stopped moaning since they lifted him from the tub. Kate sat at his side and caressed his chest. Moving her hand in a gentle circle, she tried to soothe him and quiet him.

"Ben, after examining Adam, I'm afraid that the tincture of laudanum that they gave him had a very high concentration of opium in it. He was very sleepy and his breathing was shallow by your account."

"Well, Paul, how long until the effects wear off?" Ben wanted to hear some good news from Doctor Martin, but he was going to be disappointed.

"Ben, I'm in a quandary here. If I don't give any more laudanum to Adam, he's going to be in severe pain. He may not be able to sleep. He may have severe aches, sweat, have the chills, retch, and worse."

"Can you give him some then?"

"If I do, then he will have an even harder time beating the addiction. Ben, he would have to have laudanum for the rest of his life."

"My son will not be an opium eater!"

"No, he won't." Kate was standing outside the room. "He's my husband, and you should be talking to me about his care." Seeing Adam suffering had brought a major change in Kate. The strength of character was back banishing the emotional weakness she had felt with her pregnancy. "He's a strong man, and he will beat this thing."

"Kate, Adam is going to suffer terribly."

"How much more would he suffer reduced to taking laudanum every day for the rest of his life because we didn't think he was strong enough to recover from those burns and this addiction?"

"Kate, the symptoms you are seeing are just the beginning. He probably still has some laudanum in his system after taking in so much. The runny nose, watery eyes, the sweating, and the nervous agitation are the start. He will become more and more agitated. He won't be able to sleep. He'll have chills and fever, nausea and vomiting, loose bowels, cramps, aches, and pains in places that no one ever hurts. In addition he will be suffering terrible pain from his feet and we won't be able to give him anything for it. He'll exhaust himself and be unable to rest."

"How long?"

"It will be days, two at least and maybe more. The longer it lasts, the worse he will get. He won't be able to eat and he's already lost weight because they starved him. He'll get weaker. If it gets too bad, Kate, he could die."

In her heart, Kate knew as well as Ben that Adam would prefer to fight. But her heart was breaking too knowing how much he would suffer. In the guest room, Hoss was sitting at Adam's side talking to him. Adam was still moaning in pain and tears fell as he cried for relief that wouldn't come.

"Adam, sometimes I thought I wanted to see you drunk and silly. I wanted to see what you would be like if you had too much. I wondered what you would be like without all the hard outside you got. But Adam, I was wrong. You need to come back to us and be the Adam we know. You gotta beat this thing."

For two full days, Adam suffered through the pain and the torment. Someone sat with him every moment. He drank tea which was the only thing he didn't immediately vomit back up. Cold packs were applied to his feet to give him some relief from the pain of the burns. Bandages were changed on his feet often and salve reapplied each time. Kate, Ben, or one of his brothers would use cool cloths to sponge his neck, chest, arms, and face. He was sweating profusely with a high fever even as he shivered and was covered in goose bumps. Nothing they did chased the chills away even as Adam begged for help.

After two days of watching over Adam and caring for his needs as he withdrew from laudanum, everyone was exhausted physically and emotionally. At midnight, Ben arose, slipped on his robe, and headed downstairs to take his turn with his son. As he descended the stairs, he was surprised by the quiet. There was a lamp burning in the guest room where his son lay because he could see the light spilling out into the great room, but the moaning or groaning was absent. He worried as he neared the room until he saw Kate's smile when she looked at him. She was pale and there were large circles under her eyes, but the smile said it all. Adam was sleeping. He had turned the corner and now things would get better day-by-day.

"I didn't know if I should wake you and the others to say you could stay sleeping."

"Of course you could wake us with news like this. Someone will need to be with him though until morning anyway."

"I'll stay with him. I'll sleep beside him so I'll know if he needs me."

Ben was going to disagree but didn't for two reasons. One was that Kate would have argued with him about doing this any other way. And as he stood and watched his son sleep, the worry that had made his chest hurt and disturbed the little slumber he had was dissipating.

"I'll tell everyone. Someone will be here bright and early."

So Kate slept beside her husband who was not even aware anyone was there. Adam slept until almost noon the next day. When he awoke, he was thirsty and hungry. For the first time since his ordeal began, he got to have some food. Even the light small meal made him a bit nauseous though so they had to revert to broth and bits of bread for another day. His feet were healing but he still couldn't walk, so they got the wheelchair out of storage and wheeled him about the house. He and Kate stayed in the downstairs bedroom for a few weeks until Adam could walk although it was gingerly at first. Life was returning to normal.

Chapter 8

"Well, you're in good health again and there's no restriction on what you can do. The runny nose should clear up slowly. Try not to hurt yourself though because I can't give you anything for the pain in the future. It would be too dangerous. Is the nausea gone?"

"Not completely. If I eat a lot or eat a normal helping of meat, I get nauseous."

"Well, stick to light meals and avoid fried foods and heavy foods like meat as much as you can. Eat a snack if you're hungry between meals. That nausea should be gone soon as well."

It was early in the day and Doctor Martin was there for the last checkup for Adam who still had trouble walking on his tender soles, but otherwise was looking very good. Hop Sing plied him with special snacks and drinks frequently, and he had gained back most of the weight he had lost. He needed to regain his strength but that would take time. Adam had smiled at the doctor's statement and Paul knew why. Adam hated painkilling powders because of the side effects he suffered. He wouldn't ever have to worry about those now.

One good thing that had come out of the ordeal was that Joe had found an inexpensive way to deliver horses. The Price Freight Company would deliver four or eight at a time depending on if they were sending one or two wagons to a site. Joe had sat down with Matt Price and they had worked out a contract. Unless the buyers wanted more horses or had strict time limits, the horses would be delivered for a small fee. Ben was questioning Joe about paying for horse deliveries when Paul was upstairs with Adam and Kate. Ben still wasn't sure it was a wise business decision.

"Pa, how much does it cost for me and a hand to be gone for up to two weeks making a delivery. Now we can stay here and work. It's a win-win as far as costs and profits go. We save money on delivery costs, and Matt makes some money on deliveries for wagons already traveling in that direction."

"All right, we'll give it a try. You did put an escape clause into that contract."

"Not necessary. I worked it out to pay on demand for services. If we don't ask them to do it, we don't owe them anything."

"Joe, you're getting better and better at business. Have you got any other ideas, although I'm almost afraid to ask."

"Nothing definite right now, but I got some ideas I'm working on."

Raising his eyebrows, Ben gave Joe that look that said you better use your head. Joe laughed.

"Don't worry. I'll talk it over with the family before any decision is made."

As Ben and Joe had been talking, Adam came downstairs with Paul. He went outside and bid Paul goodbye. Then he hitched up a team to ride to his house to see what still needed to be done. He had been unable to do any of the finishing work, and that had slowed down their timetable for moving into the new house. Then he hoped to ride to Hoss' building site to do the same. Just getting the carriage ready though had him sweating and coughing. Kate made him sit on the porch and drink some lemonade with her before they left. As they sat there, Ben and Joe walked outside and were immediately concerned because Adam was flushed and sweating.

"Nothing to worry about. Paul said I'm in good health, but some of these symptoms may last for a while yet."

Ben looked at Kate who nodded and that drew a scowl from Adam.

"I tell the truth."

"Yes, but you have been known to leave out part of it. And don't look like you're all that mad. I know you're not and you're just trying to make me feel a little guilty so you can get what you want. What do you want, by the way?"

Adam sat wondering how his father had worked that out after all these years. Those temper tantrums were real on occasion, at least often enough for him to fake it so his father would give in. He would think about how his father learned of his deception when he had more time.

"Kate and I would like to move to the new house by the end of the week."

Ben was going to react negatively immediately but caught himself. This was a decision that his son and his wife should make. So he nodded and asked how he could help. Joe's mouth dropped open. Adam's would have but he had learned how to keep a blank face a lot better than Joe could ever hope to do. Kate was gracious and said 'thank you'.

Adam worked at his house every day that week until Kate made him stay home and rest the day before the move. She was sitting next to Melody on the settee as they worked on patching work shirts.

"You're going to be working very hard tomorrow. You're already tired and you haven't even begun to do any work today."

"Yeah, Adam, if you're so all fired ready to work, you could start doing your chores again."

"Shut up, Joe. I won't be here to do chores after tomorrow, so it would seem to be a moot point."

"What do cows have to do with chores?"

"Joe, that's utter nonsense."

"There you go again with the cows. What's udder nonsense anyway."

Then the two brothers started laughing so hard they had to sit down. Kate looked at both of them and shook her head. Ben looked at Kate and smiled even as Melody started to giggle.

"This is what you got yourself into with these sons of mine. Sure you don't want to back out of this marriage for your own sanity?"

Kate rubbed her distended abdomen and sighed. "Too late now." Then she and Ben joined in the laughter. Hoss and Candy walked in and wondered what all the laughter was about. Ben explained to them and they looked at each other. Candy spoke first.

"Guess we had to be here."

"Ya, reckon so, jest don't seem all that funny."

The looks on Hoss' and Candy's faces got Joe giggling and then everyone had to laugh. No one could avoid laughing at what Adam sometimes referred to as Joe's 'insane cackle'. Ben walked over to his desk and sat in his big leather chair. He watched his sons and daughters-in-law and Candy and thought how lucky they were. They could make mistakes or engage in 'foolishment' as Hop Sing called it, but in the end, here they were: a loving family who enjoyed being together.


End file.
